by Kevin Burton
Along with more words English has gotten from Yiddish, today we include one suffix.
A suffix is a letter of group of letters added to the end of a word. It can change the word's grammatical function or meaning.
The best example of a suffix from my formative years is "-gate." Attaching -gate to a word lets the reader know there is a scandal going on.
If I say "cookie-gate" you know somebody got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, or some company reduced the size of the cookies without reducing the price, or something.
This comes from the American Watergate Scandal (1972-74), a "third-rate burglary" (1972-74) that, with a botched coverup, eventually forced president Richard Nixon to resign from office. The crimes took place at a hotel called the Watergate. Since then, scandal has come clothed in -gate.
The Yiddish suffix "-nik" below is much more benign. Here's the explanation from Merriam-Webster, and the rest of their word list ("Laverne and Shirley" fans, the final entry is for you!):
-nik: a person connected to an activity, an organization, a movement, etc.
There are many different kinds of -niks, a handy word ending which comes from the Yiddish suffix of the same spelling, and denotes a person who is connected to a group or a cause. Among the more common words that utilize this are beatnik, neatnik, peacenik, nudnick, and the ever-popular no-goodnik. Russian also has this suffix, and English has borrowed -nik words from Russian too, including refusenik and Raskolnik, (a dissenter from the Russian Orthodox Church).
Kvetch: to complain often or constantly
If you look up kvetch in a Merriam-Webster dictionary online (either the Collegiate at m-w.com or the Unabridged at unabridged.merriam-webster.com) you will see, below the definition, a long and splendid list of synonyms. Our language has more than three dozen very similar ways of describing the act of complaining about something. Most of these have been in English for far longer than kvetch (which dates to around 1952 and comes from kvetshn, meaning to squeeze or pinch), so why do we need another?
The fact that it begins with a kv is reason enough to want to add it to our language, but in addition to that there is no such thing as too many words for complaining.
Zaftig: of a woman : slightly fat in an attractive way: having a full, rounded figure
Zaftig has been in use in English since the 1920s; a couple of the earliest known uses are found in Variety magazine, in reviews of burlesque dancers. It comes from the Yiddish word zaftik, meaning 'juicy or succulent.' If this word is new to you and you would like to take it out for a spin please be advised that even though most dictionaries define it as connoting attractiveness people to whom it might apply are likely to not appreciate its use.
Futz: fool around
Futz is a word that has the sort of etymology that will make small children think that studying language is an enjoyable pursuit. It is thought to have come (no one is entirely certain) from a modification of the Yiddish phrase arumfartsn zikh, the literal translation of which is 'to fart around.'
Kibitzer: one who looks on and often offers unwanted advice or comment
Kibitzer, which can also be spelled kibbitzer, may also be used in a broad sense, with the meaning "one who offers opinions." The word came to English from the Yiddish kibitser, which itself comes from the German word kiebitzen, meaning "to look on (at cards)."
Schnorrer: a beggar; especially, one who wheedles others into supplying his or her wants
The comedian Jerry Seinfeld, unburdened by lexicographic rules, defined schnorrer as "someone who picks the cashews out of the mixed nuts." We generally avoid using food-based analogies in our definitions, and so have adopted the wording seen above.
Schnorrer comes to English from the Yiddish word shnoren (meaning "to beg").
Schlemiel & Schlimazel: an unlucky bungler (schlemiel) & a consistently unlucky person (schlimazel)
The definitions we provide for schlemiel and schlimazel are quite similar; both refer to an individual who is deficient in luck. The schlemiel however, tends to have an air of incompetence surrounding their misfortune, whereas the schlimazel is simply unfortunate.
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